Philips Provides Solar LED Lighting Solutions For South African Homes

Philips is promoting sustainable, solar powered LED lighting in South Africa by providing lighting systems for 200 homes.

In the South African town of Stanger, also known as KwaDukuza, the nights just got a little bit brighter.

Philips has has announced that it will be providing 200 homes across the Ilembe district of South Africa with solar powered LED lighting solutions, including home lighting systems, flashlights, and lanterns. The home lighting system is able to generate an night's worth of light based on eight hours of solar charging time. It eliminates the need for dangerous and potentially harmful kerosene lamps.

"Today an estimated 560 million Africans live without electricity," Philips Africa CEO JJ van Dongen said. "For these people nighttime means either darkness or the flickering light of a candle or kerosene lamp. However the disadvantages of Kerosene lanterns are many, including safety and health risks, high costs due to the link with oil prices. And the light output of these lanterns is so low as to make visibility almost impossible.

"Using the energy of the sun to power lighting solutions can make a true difference here."

Philips will also be providing 30 homes in the region with efficient wood burning stoves, that utilize biomass. The company claims that the stoves cut down on carbon emissions by 90 percent and reduce the amount of harmful toxic chemicals by 95 percent, making them both more sustainable and less harmful for those doing the cooking.